


Bloom

by shamebucket



Category: No Thank You!!! (Visual Novel), Room No. 9 (Visual Novel)
Genre: Bittersweet, Hopeful Ending, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-25
Updated: 2018-11-25
Packaged: 2019-08-29 14:20:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16745626
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shamebucket/pseuds/shamebucket
Summary: How do you pick up the pieces when you've got half a brain? Maybe pair your brain with someone's as equally damaged as yours.Seiji's POV 3rd person. Spoilers for everything. Post Kouichi route and ending A. Inspired by foxhuhu's Haru & Seiji series. Contains mentions of past DaiSei and HaruKou but they aren't presented in this fic.





	Bloom

**Author's Note:**

  * For [foxhuhu](https://archiveofourown.org/users/foxhuhu/gifts).



> This was heavily inspired by foxhuhu's fics in his [Haru & Seiji series](https://archiveofourown.org/series/1179659). Please check them out (and make sure to comment and/or kudo if you enjoy)! In addition to them being excellent, a lot of the story will make more sense if you've read them.

"Whoa~ it's starting to get really nice out, huh Sei-chan?" 

Seiji doesn't feel the same enthusiasm as Haru does over the warmer weather, as indicated by his crossed arms and noncommittal look. "I suppose." He leans against the doorway as Haru laughs, jumping in the fallen cherry blossom petals. How strange it is to see a full-grown man so pleased at the changing of the seasons, spring slowly making way into summer. Slowly but surely. The passage of time...

He's simultaneously dumbfounded, relieved, and uncomfortable by how quickly he has settled into this arrangement. Before the room, and everything that happened in it (how it irrevocably shaped him), he was never one to make waves unless there was an important reason to do so. And, for seven years afterwards, he had no will of his own to even attempt to say anything for his own well-being. A part of him is still afraid. Maybe Daichi will come back. Maybe Haru is going to hurt him. Maybe this is all just a dream and he's going to wake up in hell again. 

It's not a thought he can control. If he could, he would have stopped it ages ago. It's like how he can't control his body when Haru touches him, when it's dark and all he knows is Haru, a man who was a stranger not long ago but now feels closer to him than anyone else. Seiji can feel his hands on his body and bites his lip at the memory of last night, Haru's surprising attentiveness (in spite of his selfish attitude) catching him off-guard multiple times. He's not used to people being kind to him. But neither is Haru. Men like them don't remember what kindness looks or feels like, so they have to reinvent it themselves. 

Despite sharing a bed and a life with him, Seiji is still never quite sure what to make of Haru. It's not as if Haru doesn't talk about himself - he just rarely opens up unless he's prodded, with the exception of the night that they met. He still feels as if there's a lot that he doesn't know about the strange assassin - but perhaps he can't remember himself. He said his brain was bad. Bad like Seiji's, but Seiji can't say for sure that his own brain was damaged _that_ much. What Haru seems to have been through is simply too much for a normal human to bear, but he also supposes that his tolerance levels may be high from being in confinement for so long as a child. 

And, that said, it's not as if either Haru or Seiji are currently adapted to "normal human society" yet. But, they're trying. 

"Aren't you going to yell at me for making a mess?" Dozens, if not hundreds, of fresh cherry blossoms have been trampled underneath Haru's feet, pressed into the soft soil, imprinting themselves into the earth. There may be some pressed on the bottoms of Haru's sandals, too. 

Seiji shrugs. "Do as you please." It's not his place to scold Haru for doing something fairly harmless, even if he himself can't understand the fun in it. It's not as if Haru is doing a thing that hurts people. Plus, it's not like Seiji can truly stop doing Haru from the things he wants to do. The differences between them are clear. 

It's been some months since Haru's been living with him. On the first night where they had sex after Haru returned, Seiji trembled as Haru felt him up, groping his chest and ass, his hands firm and true. Seiji knew it was coming, and he accepted it, even though he wasn't sure that he was ready. His body reacted, as it was trained to do, but his mind and heart still haven't healed. Those hands killed many people. He started weeping at the thought, for all the pain Haru's felt, for all the pain Haru's wrought. He couldn't imagine what it would feel like to kill somebody. Those hands beat Daichi into submission. He shook. Haru must have roughed up Daichi very badly, worse than Daichi hit Seiji... _I'll make you feel good, it's okay,_ Haru reassured him, through the dim memories sparking to the front of his brain, of how Daichi touched him there, of how he was demeaned and subjugated. There were (and are) no demands of ownership in Haru's ministrations, only promises of mutual pleasure. It felt good and safe, and Seiji felt as if he understood Haru better afterward. Perhaps some things really can only be communicated through sex. 

Seiji had missed him. How strange. They had only met once before, but Haru had afforded him a kindness he could not truly comprehend. 

Across the pond, a wisteria unfolds its blooms. Slowly, patiently. Seiji looks over the water and gazes at it, wistful. 

Haru notices after a moment or two of stomping, and turns his head to look at it, too. "That's pretty. Wisteria, right? I don't think I've seen one blooming in person yet... but my brain's pretty bad."

"You don't say." 

Haru, as if drawn by a magnet, walks over to it, tiptoeing around the pond. Seiji follows him, drawn by the same energy. The flowers brush against Haru's hair as he walks underneath it, and he sits at the base of the tree, cross-legged, staring up at the foliage. Seiji sits next to him, hugging his knees lightly. The blossoms are still far too young to fall off of the tree, still budding. No way for Haru to trample on this beauty. Being underneath the safe canopy of purple blooms feels comforting. "This tree reminds me of you," Haru says after a minute. 

Seiji blinks. "How come?" 

Haru shrugs. "I dunno. I'm not good at describing brainy stuff. It just does." Seiji narrows his eyes, and Haru hums, thinking a little harder. "It looks kinda sad, doesn't it? Like it's been waiting a long time." That's a bit too on the nose for Seiji. He looks down, staring at the pond and the ripples the fish make as they swim underneath the water. "But it's strong, too. Even if it only shows its colors once a year, it looks patient and majestic. It waits." Haru turns to Seiji, grins wide, and puts his hand on his knee. "What're you waiting for?"

 _Daichi._ Seiji's heart sinks at the thought, but, deep down, he knows it's true. With trepidation, every morning, he waits for his best friend to return to him. He's not sure if it's a romantic or sexual longing anymore, now that Haru is here and has been so good to him and for him, but... the longing remains. He misses Daichi, both the boy who became his friend and the man he became. He hated being raped, being abused, being treated as subhuman, but it's familiar to him. It's predictable and almost comfortable. Even if he dies there, at least he'd know it was coming. It can't possibly be safe living with an ex-yakuza. Being with Haru feels like constantly rolling the dice, although he's been lucky thus far. 

Haru chuckles. "You're really sentimental, huh?" 

"I suppose you wouldn't understand." 

He tilts his head and puts a finger to his lips in thought. "Guess not. But that's what I like about you." Smiling, he leans on Seiji's shoulder. "You don't need to worry though. I know he's not coming back." 

This doesn't give Seiji any comfort, and this isn't even close to the first time he's heard that statement. Haru seems very sure of this, which he supposes could mean two things. Either Haru was telling the truth and Daichi is an enormous coward who would accept that Seiji is gone after being roughed up, or... Daichi is dead. He's not sure which truth he truly finds preferable. The thought of being willfully abandoned by the person he cared about most for a large portion of his life makes him feel terrible, and the thought of Daichi being dead...

He leaves his thought unspoken. Haru pouts and rubs his cheek against Seiji's arm. "Sei-chaaaaa~n, I'm right here, you know!"

"I know." Seiji leans his head on top of Haru's. "Do you ever miss him? The man you loved before." 

"Pops... hmm." Haru hums to himself, and Seiji can feel the vibrations through his skull. "Maybe, I guess. He was weird, a different weird from you, but he was nice and treated me kindly. I get happy when I remember that summer, and all the times I spent with him." He almost sounds nostalgic. "Those days, and the days by the pool... those are some of my best memories." His voice jumps back to its normal, nearly flippant tone. "But those days are long gone, and he's dead." Haru moves the hand on Seiji's knee lower, to his mid-thigh. "We're here now."

"Yeah. You're right." Seiji sits up straight, looks Haru in the eye, and kisses him. It's a fairly short and very chaste kiss (aside from the squeeze Haru gives Seiji's inner thigh). Haru starts giggling. "What is it?"

"I'm glad I'm going to spend my first real summer with you, Sei-chan. It's going to be a lot of fun!"

Seiji doesn't have fond memories of summer, beyond a faint glow of a boy sitting on the stoop of a convenience store almost twenty years ago. All he can remember of summer is the stench of semen, stale sweat, and blood. However... something about Haru's perseverance and childish excitement sends a warm glow across Seiji's body. "I think so, too." He kisses Haru again, deeper, and Haru responds in turn, pushing Seiji's back against the grass. 

After a long, cold winter, Seiji blooms underneath the wisteria tree, petals opened slowly by Haru's careful hands.


End file.
